Development of an Interdisciplinary Curriculum at the Graduate Level: Master and Doctoral Program of Mathematics Education in Iran

Mathematics education as an independent discipline at the graduate level was developed as the response to the specific needs of mid 20th century. In this paper, we first have a glimpse of the idea of university and its distinction with schooling. The authors then, discuss the necessary characteristics of a discipline and in particular an interdisciplinary one. For this purpose the development process of the discipline of “mathematics education” is considered as a sample. Finally, the formation of the master and doctoral programs of mathematics education in Iran would be discussed as one of the first interdisciplinary graduate programs that was established at the basic science branch of higher education in Iran in 1999.